Daniel Sloss @ Brisbane Comedy Festival Review

For the first time, Scottish comedian Daniel Sloss brought his baby face and dark sense of humour to the Sunshine State with his new show ‘So…?’.

For those who missed it, Sloss’ 2016 show was about his older sister. He expertly lulled the audience into a false sense of security and then ripped the rug from under the audience by sharing the fact his sister had died when he was seven.

At the Brisbane Comedy Festival (18 March), Sloss went for the same kind of bait and switch tactics, but the end result was a little less neat.

‘So..?’ began with a very simple question. 'Do you think you’re a good person?' After berating the audience members brave enough to answer in the affirmative, Sloss launched into a meticulous musing about life, love and happiness.

Sloss does two things extremely well. The first is his rubber-faced reactions to incredulous situations, the simple pursing of his lips eliciting roars of laughter. The second is segways. Sloss’ entire show flowed so beautifully you didn’t notice he had changed the topic from conservatives to the shaving of one’s butthole.

It was this ease of direction that mostly covered up that while consistently funny and engaging, the subject matter was a bit scattered. Three quarters into the show, Sloss introduced the concept, 'life is a jigsaw puzzle'. Rather than trying to fill your life with a partner you should fill it with whatever makes you happy.

It was an endearing idea that allowed Sloss to build some solid material from. I just wish he had introduced it a little earlier in the show and built a narrative around that gut punch.

Sloss has it all: charm, charisma, physicality, content and there is a fantastically impactful show trying to poke its head through during ‘So…?’. But at this current moment in time it’s still in its fetal stage.